Old Gympie Road Widening

$640,000 allocated for the upgrade designs of key sections of Old Gympie Road and Alma Roads in Kallangur and Dakabin.

You may have noticed over the past week or so that there have been surveyors on Old Gympie Road between Ann St and Nellies Lane, well according to the Division 7 budget for the 2018-2019 financial year, two key sections of Old Gympie Road are going to be widened, and we are seeing the beginning of planning for Ann St to Nellies Ln stretch.

Ann St to Nellies Ln

Old Gympie Rd, between Ann St roundabout and Nellies Lane

This section will be widened to four lanes. You may recall in an earlier article from 2016, that we had spoken about the signalisation of the Brickworks Rd and Old Gympie Rd intersection. Well at this stage we feel it’s appropriate to assume that when the council widen the section of Old Gympie Rd between the Ann St roundabout and Nellies Ln, they also would signalise the intersection with Brickworks Rd. It’s already a difficult enough intersection to turn right from, having to contend with 4 lanes will make it not only harder but far more dangerous. As well as this, they’d also incorporate a signalised pedestrian crossing which will vastly increase safety for people crossing the road and would replace the regularly used crossing just a few meters down from Brickworks Rd.

Marsden Rd to Shepherdson St

Alma Rd, between Marsden Rd and Shepherdson St

With the recent estates which have been built and are being built along both sides and the entire length of Alma Rd, the section between Marsden Rd and Shepherdson St is under significant strain and is showing it. $40,000 has been allocated in this financial year’s budget for the design of an upgrade for this section of the road, which will tie it in with the intersection with Old Gympie Road to the East and the newly rebuilt section between Marsden Rd and Thompson Rd to the West.

Alma Rd to Goodwin Rd

Old Gympie Rd, between Alma Rd and Goodwin Rd

The next section to see an upgrade will be the section of road between Alma Road and Goodwin Road in Dakabin, it will also be widened to four lanes. Now that we know that, put yourself in the shoes of people turning right from either Hughes Rd East, or from the Dakabin Waste Management Facility on to Old Gympie Rd. now combine that with the housing estates which will undoubtedly pop up on the southern side of Hughes Road East in the coming years, we feel this intersection with Old Gympie Rd would also be a likely candidate to become a signalised intersection.

With more and more housing estates being built on land serviced by Old Gympie Road these kinds of upgrades cannot come soon enough. It is also hoped that within the next 1-3yrs the rest of Old Gympie Road will be upgraded all the way up to the Boundary Road roundabout. This will tie in with the safety improvements being planned for Boundary Rd, west of the roundabout.